Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 3:57 p.m.

Lewinsky writes in magazine about Clinton affair

FILE--Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky leaves the Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia in this April 6, 1998, file photo.

WASHINGTON — Monica Lewinsky says there's no question her boss — Bill Clinton — "took advantage" of her when he was president.

But if there was any abuse in their affair, she says, it came afterward, when Clinton's inner circle tried to discredit her and his opponents used her as a pawn.

The former White House intern, now 40, writes about her life in the next issue of Vanity Fair magazine, out this month. In released excerpts, she says she's perhaps the first Internet scapegoat and wants to speak out on behalf of other victims of online humiliation.

Her willingness to step forward may come at an inopportune time as former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton considers running for president. Republicans have signaled they don't consider the 1990s scandal out of bounds.